If the Founding Fathers Rose From Their Graves Part II

Well thanks to a morning of watching CNN at work I have been inspired to do a sequel. If the founding fathers had risen from the grave yesterday they would have seen the constitution at work just as they had designed it to. Now I think they would have had a little stronger stance on homosexuals than we do. After all they did convict witches of doing much less than trying to marry the same sex. But just as I wrote in the last post, our world is different. Our society has evolved in a way that they never imagined.


The supreme court ruled yesterday that same sex, legally married couples shall have the same federal rights and privileges provided to couples of the opposite sex. This stems from a two legally married women from New York. One spouse passed away and left her assets to her wife. The federal government taxed that inheritance to the tune of $363,000 just as if they we not married. These women were together for years and Edith Windsor, the plaintiff, said in her press conference that she could have married a man for a week and not paid any taxes on what he had left her. Now I paraphrased that a bit but you get the picture.

When you read the words, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” that means something to anyone that has learned only a small amount of American history. My college history professors note that happiness was synonymous with property or land as it was written by the founders. Using the word happiness is far more reaching than what it was intended for. I think they knew what they were talking about. What about the Pre-amble that says:

 "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide   for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

All the words that I underlined apply here. Our founders were Liberals by nature because of the challenges that existed and the times required it. In a country who’s constitution was written to provide constructive change, our people should be more tolerant. The treatment of anyone in this country that is a minority is staggering. We are Americans because we believe in the ideals outlined above, yet we abuse our right of free speech to disparage others. I refuse to treat people differently because they want the same happiness that I enjoy every day. And to anyone that uses religion as a justification to bash gay people, read your Bible. You can get into Heaven folks, but that is determined by YOUR behavior, not the behavior of others.

Here is my bottom line: live your life to its fullest potential, seek out happiness and fulfillment without hurting others. That was the vision of America that our founding fathers sought and its an easy way to live. I feel good when people are happy. Happy people make a happy society. I am happy that our Supreme Court got it right and now millions of people who once felt disenfranchised will now be happy.

http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_preamble.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/27/us/politics/supreme-court-gay-marriage.html?_r=0

Don't Buy Me A Grill

According to the ads, all the retailers know what us dads want for Father’s Day. We want grills and tools. The truth is I don’t really want anything. I just want my kids to keep a promise.


Recently I have had the cute yet awkward moment with my kids when they tell me that they want to be just like me. My response to both was “don’t be like me, be better than me.” This is an awkward conversation because I immediately recalled all the mistakes I had made in my life and toes I had stepped on and I surely hope they have an easier path to happiness than I had. It’s cute because they do not have a clue how far ahead of me they actually are when I was their age. When they need a pair of shoes, we go get a pair of shoes. I had to save up paper route tips for a while.

I grew up fatherless, with my grandmother dirt poor living off of food stamps and Reagan cheese (you know, government cheese). I made the joke to my daughter that we were so po that we couldn’t afford the O and the R. She still doesn’t get it and I’m glad. What she also doesn’t get, but she will, is that I am now richer than will ever be because I am her father. You see, people from generational poverty find their wealth in people and not material things. Middle class values are great to pass on but for people have experienced the social mobility that I have, it’s hard to be a parent but it is truly rewarding to raise my new middle class kids. In a way I have hit the lottery twice and it pays out daily. It is now my responsibility to help them keep the promise.

The promise is, be better than me. I do what I do with what I have, but it is my job to see that my kids realize their potential and take advantage of every opportunity. My daughter played school in my building every day when she came over this year and I always joked that she was going to law school instead. The truth is it is flattering and I know I have made some type of an impact on my kids. That is the goal of any parent. Don’t buy me a grill, just keep the promise each day.